Joey Barton: The 30 bets which led to Burnley midfielder being banned

Joey Barton returned to Burnley in January after leaving Rangers: Getty

Joey Barton, the Burnley midfielder, has been suspended from all football activity for 18 months after admitting a misconduct charge from the Football Association in relation to betting.

Barton, who will appeal against the length of the ban, is alleged to have placed 1,260 bets on football matches between March 2006 and May 2013.

30 of those bets were placed at a time when Barton was representing one of the teams involved in the wager.

In spreadsheets of the bets in question released by Barton, 15 are classified as bets on his own team and 15 are classified as bets against his own team.

Joey Barton's bets on his own team

Joey Barton's bets against his own team

The bets released by Barton include a wager laying (i.e. betting against) City team-mate Georgios Samaras from scoring the opening goal against Fulham in a Premier League fixture on Saturday 28 April, 2006. The bet was placed at 7.57pm the day before the game.

Barton, who also backed himself to score the first goal in that game, started. Samaras did not but came on as a 66th minute substitute for Darius Vassell with the score at 0-0. City's Richard Dunne opened the scoring three minutes later, with Fulham eventually winning the game 2-1.

While at Newcastle, Barton placed several bets on the Tyneside club to lose a 2008 friendly against PSV Eindhoven. Barton did not play in the game which ended in a 2-2 draw.

Two-and-a-half years later, Barton lost a total of £747.50 after backing Newcastle to beat Stevenage in a FA Cup third round tie. Barton played in the game, which his side lost 3-1.

In a statement, Barton said: “On the few occasions where I placed a bet on my own team to lose, I was not involved in the match day squad for any of those games. I did not play. I was not even on the bench. I had no more ability to influence the outcome than had I been betting on darts, snooker, or a cricket match in the West Indies.”

He added: “One thing I can state with absolute certainty – I have never placed a bet against my own team when in a position to influence the game, and I am pleased that in all of the interviews with the FA, and at the hearing, my integrity on that point has never been in question.

“I could not live with myself, nor face my team-mates or the fans of the clubs I played for, if they seriously thought I would bet on my team to lose a game whose outcome I could influence.”

Barton also added that he has “fought addiction to gambling” and challenged the FA to confront “the culture of gambling in football” and “its own dependence on the gambling companies”.